


Eternal Ranger

by Kanamizaki



Category: Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan
Genre: Angst and Feels, I'm Sorry, Really there's not a happy ending, This is your warning for something sad, it's sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-18
Packaged: 2018-10-20 17:18:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10667244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kanamizaki/pseuds/Kanamizaki
Summary: Erak believes the Temujai are coming back for a surprise raid, so he had sent Svengal and the rest of Wolfwind for Halt and Will's assistance. But the Temujai were not after anything from the Skandians nor did they plan to have a small battle on the ships. Whatever works though. Erak was their best way to find the Rangers and here they are.





	Eternal Ranger

**Author's Note:**

> I apologies if things had gotten anything slightly inaccurate. This is a fanfic after all (I feel like I have to put it in but: Ranger's Apprentice series belongs to the one and only John Flanagan)

Will had thought about this before, and constantly through peaceful nights; He loved being a Ranger. He loved being able to travel so far and even across the seas now with the new peace treaty they had with Skandia. He couldn’t be happier traveling to new places with the people he loved. Especially with Halt.

His mentor, though mostly a grim fellow, was his favourite companion to be with. Will could always rely on him and he kept him safe. He never underestimated his apprentice either, and trusted Will with his life and vice versa. And with Halt, he would always learn something new every day. It was an incredible relationship filled with love, trust, jokes, and even comfort.

But who will comfort him now?

 

He and Halt had been traveling over seas to aid Oberjarl Erak with a plan against what he thinks is an upcoming surprise raid from the remaining Temujai. He knew not how many there are still, but both Will and Halt were his number one go to people. He had the men, but Halt knew the Temujai and he trusted the two Rangers with his and his men’s life.

On the third day of travel, they came across a storm to which the Rangers left the Skandians to handle the situation, while they tied themselves to the mast. In a situation like this, Halt would have been sick to his stomach, but that isn’t the case while his apprentice was fighting to keep himself from having a panic attack.

All the memories of him being taken forcefully by the Skandians, along with the Princess of Araluen, were flooding back. He was scared to death during that storm and had no idea if he, Evanlyn or even the Skandians were going to make it alive, and with that thought in both his and the princess’s head, Will had to comfort her.

Now, it was Halt comforting him, and being with his mentor, he oddly felt more at peace in this brooding storm.

Some hours had passed, and they had just gone through the worst of it according to Svengal, but there will still be more ahead. They all took a moment to relax their tense muscles for now and catch their breaths.

Will was hugged into Halt, both soaking wet and exhausted from holding on to the mast as wave after wave of water had hit them against the wood.

“Are you alright, Will?” Halt asked, hugging his apprentice closer when he realized the young boy was still trembling. Will could only nod in response, looking ahead and around to see if he could somehow see when the next big hit was.

That’s when he and a few other crew members saw another ship a little further away from them. Svengal dug for his eyeglass and tried to make out who the ship belonged to. After a few minutes of getting pass the rain and slowly creeping closer in their direction, Svengal finally saw who the ship belonged to.

“Temujai.” He said. Halt looked and calculated their distance, but they would have to get really close if they planned to take them out here and now at sea. Even as a Ranger-skilled archer, there was no way he could shoot with perfect accuracy in weather conditions like this and while both ships were rocking violently.

“Orders?” One of the Skandians asked Svengal. They all waited in silence, all the while keeping up with the sea’s conditions.

The captain checked the skies and surrounding then made his decision. “We keep sailing. They are in our path.” He looked up at the man in the crow’s nest, “Keep a look out. Watch to see if they make any moves upon sighting us.”

“Aye!”

“Rangers,” Svengal called, “Can you make the shot?” But Halt shook his head.

“In these conditions? Not this far.”

Svengal nodded in understanding. “Take it when you can, preferably before they do first.”

Halt nodded, picking himself and Will off the floorboards. The Rangers undone a cover that kept their arrows inside their quivers and readied their bows.

As they sailed, the conditions worsened by the minute. The Skandians kept the ship as steady as they could and the two Araluen stood as balanced as they could, their eyes transfixed on the Temujai ship.

“They spotted us!” The observer called out, still keeping an eye with his spyglass.

“Any action?” Svengal asked. The observer scanned the whole ship before answering, “They set six men. Three on the bow, and three on the quarter deck. Each equipped with bows.”

“Halt, Will, how close do you need us to be.”

Neither of the Ranger’s took their gazes away. Instead, they pulled their bows, each knocked with an arrow and fired at two figures on each end of the Temujai ship. They aimed to injure, but due to the unexpected sea winds, they hit the person next to their target: Halt’s arrow killing one man and Will’s hitting one of the rowers.

The Temujai captain yelled an unheard order and more archers came aboard. The Temujai archers were not as skilled as the Rangers, but they were more experienced in shooting in conditions such as this more likely.

“Get down!” The lookout yelled.

In this storm, there wasn’t much the crewmen could do but either lift a shield or duck their heads and hope that their helmets were protection enough. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for the men in the front lines. They were killed or injured instantly.

Halt and Will reacted again, firing arrow after arrow, but losing two, then three, then four of their own men, causing them to lurch off balance from lack of rowers. They’d hit double what they lost, but losing that many was too many.

Then suddenly, the Temujai were being lurched to the side as none of them were paying any attention to the larger-than-mast wave and a quarter of the crew were thrown overboard. That worked out well for their archer problem, but the wave didn’t stop there. No. It lifted the Temujai ship, bringing it towards Wolfwind.

“Gorlog, help us.” Was all Svengal could say before the wave hit them hard.

\- - -

The water that had hit them drove Will against the hard wood, pinning him between Halt and the mast, as his mentor shielded him as much as he could from the force and flying materials. His breath was taken away by the sheer force and the sudden freezing cold water.

He had no idea what was happening, or whether they too had gone airborne. He could hear nothing but the intense screaming from the sea winds, and just ever so vaguely, Halt. He was getting hurt. But Will couldn’t do anything to help. His eyes were forced closed and his body was trapped in place.

It felt like forever when the storm had settled enough for them to move. For them to open their eyes.

Men from both ships were scattered around on the deck, Svengal and even Gundar were no where to be seen or heard from so far, but after a blow like that, it will take time for them to recover themselves. Then Will noticed that Halt wasn’t moving. His hands still gripped on the bars that still had rope connecting to them. That’s when he saw blood running down the side of his head, and some on his right shoulder.

“Halt!”

“I’m okay.” He managed to get out, releasing his tight grip. “Are you alright, Will?”

Will nodded, opening his mouth to reply when he saw movement behind his mentor. A moment of relief flooded through his body when he saw that the others had made it as well. But then his heart dropped. This man was not a Skandian.

It was the captain from the Temujai ship, blood stained with an arrow wound to his left arm. “Ranger.” He snarled at them. The man had his eyes set on Halt, and Halt alone. He was already a dead man being on Wolfwind. He might as well take down the man he despised most. The man that had helped the Skandians win the war against his fellow Temuj.

“Behind you, Halt!” Will yelled, scrambling for his saxe that was tangled in with his soaked clothes.

Halt had the same problem, but immediately changed tactic with a block from his bow, stopping the weapon from killing him, but also shattering it in the process. Halt proceeded wrapping the bow string around the ax, removing the weapon from the captain’s hold.

In that time, Will had released his throwing knife from his belt and threw it right at the man’s throat. His eyes widen with shock and then fell to his knees.

Before the two could even let out a sigh of relief, a spear shot out from their left, piercing Halt in the ribs.

“Halt!” Will screamed. His eyes immediately caught where the spear had come from, and before the Temujai man could even pull the spear away from where it dug into Halt, he had a dagger driven right through his skull from Will’s saxe.

Then an arrow was shot, hitting his mentor in his right arm.

“This is your fault!” Another Temujai yelled out before he was attacked by a Skandian. That’s when Will had noticed the others were fighting the remaining Temujai. The storm was still screaming in their ears, but Will could hear each individual that cursed Halt’s name.

“Get the Ranger!” One of them yelled, and Will cut his restrains as the Temujai attempted to attack his mentor.

The man never had a chance as his throat was split open, blood gushing out. Will then threw another one of his throwing knives at the Temujai that had shot the arrow, hitting him right through the eye.

Will heard another shout of pain from Halt and saw another one standing above his master, one foot pressed on his arm with a sword held above him. Just before he brought it down for a killing blow, Will had jumped on him, wrapping an arm around the enemy’s throat.

The Temujai warrior, being much bigger and much stronger, slammed Will against the mast, loosening the young Ranger’s grip. But Will didn’t need that grip anymore. He readied his saxe and brought it deep into the man’s chest. Over and over and over until he fell to his knees.

The ship was quiet now. Skandians stared in shock at the viscous killings from their young Ranger friend, and the remaining Temujai that knew they had lost, were suddenly glad they had surrendered and refused to go blindly for the Ranger Halt.

Will though, still filled with rage looked around him, spotting a frozen Temujai and within a second, had his saxe flying into the helpless man’s throat. He was out of weapons, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to stop killing every last one of these Temujai.

Then, a hand was placed on his shoulder. He spun around, getting ready to strike whoever with the heel of his hand, but was stopped.

Svengal was expecting the move and had caught Will’s attack. The boy was blind with rage, but he knew what would stop him. “Halt.” The Skandian captain said. And he was correct.

Will’s anger melted immediately to panic and he ran to his injured mentor.

“Halt! Halt!” Will cried, turning Halt onto his back. He faintly heard a groan and he let out a sigh of relief. Halt was alive. But that feeling soon changed when his master coughed out a worrying amount of blood. That’s when he noticed the amount of it all around him. The water only covering up the true amount.

“Halt! Halt, please, hang in there. You’re going to make it, j-just hold on.” Will sobbed, pressing hard on the spear wound, but Halt gripped at his apprentice’s arm, shaking his head.

"No, I’m not, Will.” He croaked out, accepting the fact that he was indeed dying. And there wasn’t anything anybody could do to help him.

So instead, he held Will’s trembling hand. “Our work here is done. You did a good job.” Will shook his head.

“No. I didn’t see the second one in time. Before he stabbed you.” Will’s voice trembled with guilt and anguish. “I could have saved you! I should have paid more attention, Halt! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry. I should have-”

“Boy,” Halt called firmly. He hadn’t called him that in years, but that certainly got his attention like he wanted, “You are one of the greatest Rangers to live. If you couldn’t -” He stopped, gasping for air as pain shot through but he pushed forward “If you couldn’t… catch him in time, or the other two… no one would have. If I were with anyone else… I would be dead long ago.”

“But…” Will choked out, about to deny that if he were someone else, he wouldn’t have needed to be protected in the first place. But Halt stopped him from from saying so, pulling him closer as he was at his last dying breath.

“Will. Live on, and don’t stop being the Ranger I have been so privileged to raise.”

Will opened his mouth to speak, but his words died in his throat. Instead, he nodded, tears streaming down his cheeks.

“I’m proud… to see you grow… into the outstanding Ranger you are.” Halt’s hand was beginning to fall out of Will’s. He could feel Halt leave. He could sense that he was almost gone from this world.

“I… I love you, Halt.” Will managed to just barely say. “I’ll… I’ll miss you. I’ll miss you so much.“

Halt smiled. Breaking his apprentice’s heart more. “I love you too, Will.” And with those final words, the legendary Ranger Halt, Will’s mentor and life, was gone.

His world had shattered as he could no longer feel a grip from Halt’s hand. No longer see the rise of fall of Halt’s chest, nor the ragged breathing from his lungs.

Will just barely lost his grip on his mentor’s hand and it fell lifelessly on the floorboards. Delicately, Will took hold on Halt’s cheeks in each hand, surveying him closely.

The whole world seemed to fall silent as the young Ranger took in his dead mentor.

"Halt.” Will whispered. He knew he was dead, but he just… really didn’t want to believe it. Halt couldn’t die. He just couldn’t. “Halt!” He called out louder, shaking his body, but the Ranger didn’t respond. He couldn’t respond, everyone knew.

“Halt!” Will’s voice broke, now screaming uncontrolled sobs, “Halt! Wake up! Please! Please Halt! I still need you! I need you!”

He screamed to the skies. Uncontrollably sobbing as he couldn’t handle the pain. It was too much for him to handle. He pounded on his mentor’s chest, rocking him.

“No! No! I need you, Halt! I need you! Please! Please don’t die! Don’t die!”

But he was already dead. Nobody didn’t have the heart to do or say anything. Not even the remaining Temujai moved as they all watched the young boy break down into pieces.

It took a lot in him to move. His mind and body frozen in despair over his Ranger friends, but Svengal forced himself over to the captive Temujai. With out saying a word, he had his men bring their enemies into the forecastle.

Even across the deck, inside closed walls and a closed doors, they could still heard the dreadful sounds of the young boy’s cries. Svengal fisted his hands and slammed two of the Temujai men hard against the wall.

“How many more of you are there.” Svengal spat, doing all that he could not to kill these men like the Skandian in him wants so desperately to.

They frantically shook their heads, eyes widen with fear. “It was just us! No others.”

“You’re lying.” Svengal accused, but they continued to shake their heads desperately.

“We swear!”

“Did you really plan to raid us with that little crew?” Svengal bashed them against the wall, still unconvinced.

“N-no!” One of them admitted. The Temujai were really tough and loyal men, but right now, they had no one to be loyal to. There was no reason to risk his life any longer.

“Then what!” Svengal threw them across the room, slamming them into the opposite wall. “What was your plan?”

The two men looked at each other, then at their other three companions that stood frozen with fear. They said nothing until the large Skandian took an impatient step forward.

“O-Our plan,” he bursted out in fear, “was to kill the Ranger named Halt.”

Svengal froze. So. He had brought the Ranger to his death. He had done this to Will.

Svengal brought the man who spoke off his feet and into the air, holding him against the wall. His face was a few inches from the other, just enough for the man to hear him.

“You’ve done this, you’ve broken that boy’s heart and life. My friend. You all’ve done this to yourselves. And you will all rot in Hel.”

—-

It had been hours since the storm and Will, still unmoving, his eyes out of tears to shed. His head was resting on Halt’s chest, just hoping he could possibly hear his heart beat. But no matter long he stayed there, Halt wasn’t going to come back.

It was another hour until Will had fallen asleep.

During those few hours, Svengal and Gundar had built a casket for Ranger Halt and had woken Will from his light slumber for them to get Halt’s body inside.

It was difficult, but Will had finally accepted the fact that his mentor, his Halt, was dead and forever gone from this world.

He stood up and watched as Svengal and Gundar gently lifted Halt’s body into the casket. They fixed him up as nicely as they could before shutting the coffin, but before they could, Will stopped them.

He wanted one last look. Just one more. His lip quivered and inhaled deeply. Tears fell once more.

Svengal watched in despair and saw something odd around the Ranger’s neck. He went to fix it only to find out it was the Ranger’s oak leaf pendant. He took it off with care, as if to not disturb Halt and stepped gingerly to the Apprentice.

They said nothing as the Skandian hooked the pendant around Will’s neck, letting the silver oak leaf that had belong to Halt, fall on the boy’s chest. Will couldn’t look down. His gasped for air as he grasped the pendant in his hands and fell to his knees, sobbing.

The two Skandian took that opportunity to close the lid quietly as Will sobbed uncontrollably once more and all the back to Araluen.

**Author's Note:**

> I am not sorry for this  
> (Also I think Gundar hasn't really ever been apart of Wolfwind but because I can't remember any other Skandians, he's there)


End file.
